Full review

Until this year, Coachman's only twin axle caravans were in the flagship Laser range. The arrival of Coachman's newest Vision, the 630, changed that and introduced a third family layout into the Coachman portfolio.

It's a significant step for Coachman, traditionally very adept at satisfying the couples' luxury market. Now, the five-berth 630 steps out boldly into the twin-axle, affordable family arena with something special.

What’s special about it?

Chiefly, four things. Firstly, the bunk beds are on the offside, secluded by an almost full-height wall just forward of the full-width washroom.

A single bed converts from the dining area immediately forward of the bunks. But this is no ordinary side dining area.

That’s the second thing; the seating is 87cm wide, so it’s wide enough for four, especially if two of them are small. Those sitting nearest to the wall can put their feet up on the wheel arch, which is ideal for little people whose legs wouldn’t reach the floor.

The third aspect of the 630 that makes it unique is its level of trim, lighting style and overall finesse. It looks and feels a high-quality caravan – and it is.

Luxuriously tactile crushed velvet mixes with a tartan-inspired pattern for the cushions. Silvery threads embellish cream seating fabric.

Lighting outlines curved sections of the woodwork in the front corners. The spotlights are turned off and on by a feather-light touch of a button on the base; one touch illuminates a half moon section of the circular base, a second touch turns on the brilliant beam of the spotlight; for their tiny size, they punch well above their weight.

And their base-only setting provides perfect night-time illumination for junior caravanners who don’t like total darkness.

And fourthly? The enormous size of the shower room.

Showering

It stretches 1.42m from the rear wall. It contains a nicely large (80x67cm) shower cubicle, a 50cm-wide wardrobe with two drawers beneath, and one of the most substantial washbasins you'll find in any caravan except another Coachman.

Coachman is well known for generously-proportioned shower-dressing rooms, and this is one of the best they've designed so far. There are two shelves for shampoo bottles in the shower. Towels, though, don’t get quite enough accommodation in our opinion.

There’s a loop, a double hook and a bar. That takes care of four towels; we’d want another loop or hook, keeping mind there will be up to five towels to hang to dry. That apart, though, the 630’s grooming department is brilliantly designed, with good lighting levels, two cabinets and two shelves.

Sleeping

The bunk beds are 62cm wide and 1.87cm long, secluded by a wall that runs to within 44cm of the ceiling. The occupant of the rear bunk, in particular, can’t see into the lounge; going to sleep here when there’s activity in the lounge, would be no problem.

When you transform the dining area into a bed, the table rests on ledges on the edges of the seating units to form the central section of the base. You can do it in less than a minute. The bed here is 1.83m long and 88cm wide.

The lounge makes a double bed 2m long and 1.38m wide. (or two singles, each 1.8m long). The base pulls out from under the offside settee. It’s a sturdy affair with a metal frame and, again, the transformation takes seconds.

Storage

With seven top lockers and storage boxes under five bed/seating units, the 630's storage credentials you have to regard as 'first rate'.

The bunk base lifts with literally finger-tip ease, which has gas-filled strut support. To get into the areas under the dining seating, you draw back webbing-linked slats; again, it's all very easy.

Gas-filled struts support the lounge settee bases. The offside base, though, is slightly heavier to lift than the one on the nearside because you raise the bed's central support section as well as the seat base.

We didn't find it a problem; but, with so much lower storage elsewhere, you could happily ignore this bed box if you wished. We’d say the 630 has ample storage capacity for the needs of five.

Dining

Both tables hide away in their cabinet aft of the fridge. They're light to lift.

Because the central dining area is wide enough for four small caravanners, you have great choices about who eats where – and when.

That's the kids' breakfast area, perhaps, with mum and dad eating theirs at the pull-out lounge table. (That gives you a good 86cm of width including the windowsill).

Or, you can all dine together in the lounge. When you put in the freestanding table in place here, it sits just below the level of the pull-out table, so four can use the table and two can use the pull-out section. Perfect!

Or, the kids can eat in the lounge and mum and dad get their own table. Options are good.

Lounging

Comfort is guaranteed, with firmly supportive Ozio (triple layered fibre construction) upholstery. It’s 15cm deep, rising to 17cm for the knee rolls.

The seating in the dining area is of the same depths; this is one side dining area in which kids get the same level of comfort as adults! The four scatter cushions are well filled, so they are comfortable.

Television points are close to a 33cm wide ledge on the forward end of the kitchen, alongside the control for the Truma heating system. That's fine for watching from the lounge, but there's not enough ledge space to swing a TV around to face the dining area. Are we too picky? Probably.

But we do know that parents don't always share television programme preference with kids.

Time to assess the number and locations of the mains sockets, considering the charging and powering demands of a family of five.

There’s one in the lounge, one for the TV, one by the lower bunks and one in the kitchen, plus one by the ledge which runs above the front windows; that’s ideal for phone charging.

We think two more would be needed. If you need a couple more (bearing in mind those in the kitchen and TV station aren’t in ideal locations for other uses), most caravan dealers are happy to fit extra sockets.

One more in the lounge and one close to the dining area would mean that phones and media devices would always find a route to mains.

Kitchen

With 1.03 of surface width and an extra 33cm, if you move the TV from its dedicated place, there’s enough space for meal-making.

Storage space is a joy, with a 140-litre slimline fridge-freezer aft of the kitchen, a 68cm-wide cabinet with a drawer above it, a full-height cabinet 28cm wide plus a lower one, beneath the TV ledge, 30cm wide.

Even taking into account the wheel arch intrusion in this cabinet, there's still a lot of accommodation.

There’s a lot of styling detail to notice, too. White top lockers have a horizontal grain-effect, melding attractively with the grey and white microwave surround. Vertical wood grain effect makes sure you notice the splash-back; it’s all very attractive.

Towing

The Vision 630 doesn’t set out to fight for its custom in the lightweight sector.

Its MTPLM 1660kg and you can upgrade your weight plate to a whopping 1900kg; ideal if you plan on loading an awning into it, for example. (This caravan’s awning measurement is 1075cm, so a full awning for a 630 will take up a hefty slice of payload.)

This substantial, twin axle family caravan gave us a feel of rock-solid stability on its test tow, even in quite gusty conditions and exposed stretches of road.

And when we returned from our test tow, the Truma 6kw heating system had us toasty again in 10 minutes, with outside temperature hovering at little above zero.